Model 41-788 Tropic - Printable Version

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+--- Thread: Model 41-788 Tropic (/showthread.php?tid=826)

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Model 41-788 Tropic - Ron Ramirez - 11-07-2007

Ten days ago, this radio was listed on our favorite online auction site.

http://cgi.ebay.com/300166115504

The BIN was very reasonable, but there was a caveat: Pickup only!

So I made a few inquiries, and found someone who was willing to pick the set up, box it up, and send to me. Once that was done, I jumped all over it!

Today, it arrived here.

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/Phorum_Stuff/41-788.jpg]

This radio is HUGE! It is about the same size as those 1950s European radios and uses eleven tubes. One could consider it a successor to the 116B, five years after the fact. It is much larger than the 55T I used to own (Canadian equivalent to the USA Philco-Tropic 42-760).

I want to publicly thank a fellow radio collector and Phorum member in Richmond for making this acquisition possible. I cannot adequately express my appreciation for his kindness in packing and shipping this otherwise "pickup only" radio. There are a lot of great people in this hobby (and in this Phorum!), and this gentleman is certainly one of those. (I'll leave him anonymous as I do not know if he would want me to mention his name in a public forum.) THANK YOU!!!

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- Texasrocker - 11-08-2007

Awesome!! Beautiful Radio Ron!! Bet that tropical will sound awesome after you rebuild it electronically! Very glad you "beat the caveat" on eBay for high shipping chgs! That scenario proves that you can never have too-many friends that enjoy this hobby indeed! As Ive always thought, its not the vintage-radios we buy and/or restore, it's all the "nice people" we all meet along the way that continues to make this hobby worthwhile!! Lemme know if I can ever do the same for you if you purchase via eBay in the W Tx area! I have a restored FADA bakelight AM/ Tropical featuring"tropical band" included on the dial vintage mid-40s radio here in my collection. Too bad it wasnt in a nice "catalin" cabinet instead of bakelight! Congrats again on your new find!! Enjoy!! 8) Txrockr.

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- BDM - 11-09-2007

Nice. I've often wondered what kind of performers they are. I would imaging strong 8)

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- Drew - 11-09-2007

I would imagine it is a strong performer 11 tubes, AC set, looks like a 10" speaker. Power consumpton listed at 90 watts. Bet it sounds like a console.

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- Ron Ramirez - 11-10-2007

I have never heard one of these in operation, and this is only the second 41-788 I've ever seen - first one was many years ago at a swap meet in Dayton, Ohio.

The speaker is an 8 inch unit, btw. It is rated at 8 watts audio output, close to 116B territory (10 watts output) and higher than a huge Philco console of the same model year, Model 41-300, which was rated at only 5 watts output!

I once restored a 53-960 for a client, the last of the big Tropic multiband sets. The individual spread bands for the various shortwave bands are really great for tuning in shortwave stations with the utmost of ease - just like tuning in AM stations. This 41-788 should be no different, just larger and with more tubes.

Thanks for the offer of shipping, Tex, and I would likewise be happy to do the same for you should you ever buy something in southern Indiana that you could not live without.

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